We returned home via Wentworth, Renmark and Berri. As you can see, the first part of the drive was through bleak and barren countryside.
I always love Wentworth, a pretty town on the confluence of the Darling and Murray rivers. I have visited a number of times when my friend Margaret lived there. After a very welcome hot chocolate, apple pie and ice-cream (well, a girl has to sustain herself while driving these long distances), we were on our way again and soon arrived back in Victoria at Renmark, the centre of the area known as the Riverland. The Murray is big business here as it flows right through the town, irrigating the many orchards and vineyards, and providing the setting for numerous water sports, paddle steamer excursions and houseboats. We opted to motor on to Berri, a much smaller but more picturesque spot. It used to be a major refuelling stop for paddle steamers but now is a pleasant and quiet town famous for its citrus orchards and Berri fruit juice (very quiet, in fact, as nothing was open on the Sunday we were there).
We decided to walk the river track that began at the town centre.
There were lots of opportunities for photos with the birdlife, trees and grasses, the glimpse of a moored houseboat and a lone fisherman, all offering some lovely images.
On the way back, we passed a granite sculpture, a tribute to Aboriginal tracker Jimmy James who saved many lives and helped the police for many years. The rock shows important aspects of Jimmy's spiritual life.
By now the sun was going down, the rays warming the opposite bank and bringing a deepening gloom to the side we were on.
We stayed overnight in Berri then headed for home the next morning. We stopped at nearby Loxton, a prosperous, pretty town on the banks of the Murray where we sighted yet another obelisk in memory of explorer Charles Sturt who passed this way in 1830. Not far away was a 1909 sandstone villa, The Pines, which has been restored and features a lovely garden.
We arrived home tired and weary but with wonderful memories of our outback adventure.
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